Chapter 5

Summary, Conclusions, Implications and Recommendations

Chapter Five consists of four parts: (1) Summary, (2)
Conclusions, (3) Implication and (4) Recommendations.
Part One, Summary, presents the findings of the study.
Part Two, Conclusions, draws conclusions based from the
findings of the study.
Part Three, Implications, expresses inferences drawn from
the findings.
Part Four, Recommendations, suggests ideas for further
study.

Summary of the Problem

This study aimed to determine the bioremediation ability of
resident fungi and bacteria from the Junkshops from Rizal Street
La Paz, Iloilo City.
This study sought answers to the following questions:
1. What are the effects of bacterial and fungal isolates
from lead contaminated soils over a 1-day and 7-day of
incubation period of incubation using agar block
diffusion assay?
2. What are the characteristics of bacterial and fungal
isolates with bioremediation ability?
3.

Are there significant differences on the colony diameter

of bacterial and fungal isolates without Lead Nitrate
and with Lead Nitrate after a 1-day and 7-day of
incubation period?

The study utilized experimental mode of investigation.

Bacteria and Fungi were isolated from the junkshops at Rizal
Street La Paz, Iloilo City. These Fungi isolates were
characterized, identified at the genus level and tested for their
bioremediation ability while bacterial isolates were also
characterized and tested for their bioremediation ability but
were not identified because of lacking chemicals needed for

biochemical testing. The colony diameter of each bacteria and

fungi isolates was measured using a millimeter ruler.
The results of the study revealed the following:
1. Isolated bacteria and fungi from lead contaminated soils
were able to grow in the presence of 500ppm of Lead
Nitrate over a 1-day and 7-day of incubation using agar
block diffusion assay.
2. There were 17 different fungi isolated and characterized
and identified to the genus level using a fungi
dichotomous key. And there were 20 different bacteria
isolated and characterized but were not identified to
the genus level.
3. There were significant differences on the colony diameter
among the bacterial and fungal isolates without Lead
Nitrate and with Lead Nitrate isolated from the lead
contaminated soils from junkshops.

Conclusions
Based on the findings, the following conclusions were made:
There were bacteria and fungi isolated at the junkshops at
Rizal Street La Paz, Iloilo City with bioremediation ability.

Only ten out of seventeen fungi isolates has bioremediation

ability within a 7-day period of incubation. Fungi possibly
belong to the following genera based on morphological
characterization and identification. These include Aspergillus,
Streptomyces, Epicoccum, Aureobasidium, Geotrichum, Candida,
Mucor, and Rhizopus. Isolate F4 has the highest colony diameter
and described as very active after 7 days of incubation among the
fungal isolates. All bacterial isolates has bioremediation
ability within a 1-day period of incubation. Gram Staining,
Catalase test, Oxidase test, and Growth on MacConkey Agar were
the only tests available and were used to the bacterial isolates.
Isolates B1 B4 B9 B13 B14 B19 B20 have the highest colony diameter and
described as very active after 1 day of incubation among the
bacterial isolates. There is also a significant difference in the
Two-way factor ANOVA result of the bacteria and fungi isolated
from the soils of junkshops after 1 and 7 days of incubation, p <
0.05 which indicate a varying bioremediation ability of isolates.

Implications
The study implies that junkshops contain naturally occurring
bacteria and fungi that have bioremediation ability within a 1day and 7-day period. Characterized and identified genera of
bacteria and fungi from the junkshops could not only be limited

to those genera described but other genera of fungi could also be

present depending on the sampling site taken. The colonization of
bacteria and fungi in the junkshops shows that lead contamination
happens in the junkshops premises during transfer of metals and
other recycled and segregated wastes.

Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusions, the following
recommendations are advanced:
1. The study was limited only on the characterization and
possible identification of these fungi at the genus
level and also limited on the gram staining of bacterial
isolates due to lacking chemicals for biochemical
testing. It is therefore recommended, to do molecular
characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the
species of each bacteria and fungi isolated.
2. It is also recommended to try to measure the amount of
lead present in the soil sampling site and to measure
the amount of lead bio-remediated by the bacteria and
fungi isolates.
3. It is also recommended to do chemical tests to verify the
presence of lead from various sampling sites. Enzyme

successfully isolated can be further tested for series

of physicochemical tests such as ph and temperature
ranges to determine the viability and maximum efficiency
for bioremediation of lead in a specified period of
time.
4. Other means, methods or alternatives of assessing
bioremediation ability such as spectrophotometric
analysis for accuracy and further confirmation of such
assay used are also recommended.